God is Not a God of Disorder But of Peace

"The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. For God is not a God of disorder but of peace." (1Co 14:32-33 NIV)

One certain characteristic of God's work is order and peace. Wherever God is at work, we are certain to see order and propriety.

A look into the Creation account will tell us that God works in an orderly fashion. A look into God's instructions regarding the construction of the Tabernacle of Wilderness tells us that God is a God of order. A look into the life and ministry of Jesus tells us that He worked in an orderly fashion. The way He asked people to sit down while His disciples distributed food, the way in which He instructed what the healed were to do, the way in which it is testified that his clothes were folded into a corner when He rose from the dead are proof that He did what He said - He worked as He saw His Father work.

THEREFORE, any preacher who acts in a disorderly fashion and blames that on the Holy Spirit is guilty of blasphemy. A preacher who drags a meeting overtime and claims that he does that by the leading of the Spirit is guilty of both blasphemy and deception of people; unless, of course, the marks of the Spirit's leading are clear. A preacher who does "charismatic" things in a wild fashion may be following a heathen form of sensationalist religious ecstasy; but, anything unrestrained and peace-less is not from God. A person who claims that he had been in trance and not in control of himself was not filled nor led by the Spirit.

A sluggard who doesn't spend time in prayer nor study and then testifies that the Spirit helps him in his weakness (of lack of prayer and proper study) is a danger to the Church. He must be rebuked.

The Holy Spirit organizes and administers the works of ministry in the Church (1Cor.12:6). No man can attempt to organize and administer the Holy Spirit. No man can try to put God in a box. There are times when the Spirit may do something that seems irrational to the human mind (e.g. Jesus applying a mixture of mud and spit to the eyes of the blind man). However, the Spirit of God will not be inconsistent and confused in the work of ministry. The power of the Holy Spirit is not based on extreme and voluminous shouting; He works peacefully.

In the Corinthian Church's case, a number of people prophesying amounted to confusion and meaninglessness. No one understood nor profited from what they did. The Holy Spirit cannot be called the Master of such services where confusion and lack of peace is the result. Wherever He is there is peace; wherever He acts there is peace.